Former Everton and West Ham footballer Enner Valencia attacked after missing penalty

Former Premier League star Enner Valencia was at the heart of ugly scenes during the game between Internacional and Juventude in the Copa do Brasil on the evening of Saturday, July 13.

The Ecuadorian international stepped up to take a penalty, which was subsequently saved by Juventude goalkeeper Gabriel. The referee deemed that one of Juventude’s players had encroached on the penalty area before it was taken and ordered a re-take - before a fan entered the field of play and made a beeline for Valencia.

The fan ran at the 34-year-old aggressively, before being stopped by several of Juventude’s players. He then began to tussle with them instead - one of them, Alan Ruschel, punched him in retaliation and seemed to knock him out. Following this, the pitch invader was removed from the field.

Ruschel received a red card for his efforts, after the referee reviewed the footage. Valencia went on to retake the penalty, finding the back of the net at the second time of asking. The game ended 1-1 - however, Juventude went through to the fourth round of the competition after they won on an aggregate score of 3-2. Internacional also received a red card late on, when Vitao was sent off in added time.

During his time in the Premier League, Valencia played for West Ham United and Everton (his time at Everton was spent on loan from the Hammers). At West Ham, he made 54 league appearances and scored eights goals along the way - meanwhile, his brief stint with the Toffees saw him play in 21 Premier League games, finding the back of the net on three occasions.

Outside of this, Valencia has also played for clubs such as Pachuca, Tigres UANL and Fenerbahce. He has been a key player for his country since his international debut in 2012 - he has scored 41 goals in 89 games for Ecuador since then.